This disclosure relates generally to a cooled electric vehicle battery and, more particularly, to turning a flow of coolant moving through the battery pack using a spacer.
Generally, electric vehicles differ from conventional motor vehicles because electric vehicles are selectively driven using one or more battery-powered electric machines. Conventional motor vehicles, by contrast, rely exclusively on an internal combustion engine to drive the vehicle. Electric vehicles may use electric machines instead of, or in addition to, the internal combustion engine.
Example electric vehicles include hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), fuel cell vehicles, and battery electric vehicles (BEVs). A powertrain of an electric vehicle is typically equipped with a battery that stores electrical power for powering the electric machine. The battery may be charged prior to use. The battery may be recharged during a drive by regeneration braking or an internal combustion engine.
Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art battery pack 2 include arrays of battery cells 4. The prior art battery pack 2 is cooled with a coolant, such as air. Typically, the air enters the battery pack 2 through an inlet plenum 6 on one side of the battery cells 4. The air then travels between the battery cells 4 in a single direction D and moves into an outlet plenum 8. The inlet plenum 6 and the outlet plenum 8 are on opposing lateral sides of the battery cells 4. Packaging the prior art battery pack 2 is often difficult.